One Last Time
by applecoral
Summary: At least they got to see each other one last time. Character Death


_He still remembers the first time he saw her. She was wearing her black S.H.I.E.L.D uniform, and her eyes had a certain mystery behind them. To him, it was the most beautiful thing in all of the nine realms._

_He remembers when he saw her in battle. Eyes filled with determination, guns blazing. Her lip was split and there was a cut above her eyebrow, but he still loved her all the same._

_Their first kiss happened at night. She wore a dark green dress and he wore a black suit. It was on the rooftop of a party. He leaned in close and felt her soft lips against his. They were inseparable ever since._

"Avengers…Assemble." Director Fury's voice sounded throughout the Avengers Mansion. Checking the video feeds, the Chitauri appeared to be attacking Manhattan again. They didn't learn their lesson from last time.

Loki and Natasha were sitting on the long sofa when Fury called. The Avengers had included Loki ever since he had proved himself by saving Clint, who was about to get hit by a piece of falling debris.

"Natasha." Loki said. She was starting to get up.

"What?"

"You can't go."

"I'm an Avenger."

"Who is also four months pregnant. I don't want you getting hurt." He sighed.

"I'll be fine. I'll even stick to just shooting." Natasha put on her puppy-dog face.

But Loki was firm. "Natasha. Please. Just stay here."

"Do you promise to come back?" Natasha asked.

"As long as you're here." Loki kissed her softly before his battle gear appeared on his body and his scepter was in his hand.

"I love you, Loki." She whispered, but he had already teleported away.

* * *

How Thanos managed to get the Chitauri back on Earth without the tesseract, Loki did not know. This time, it was just a portal in the sky, no machinery controlling it.

"How are we going to shut it down?" Thor asked.

"No nuclear missile this time." Tony said.

"Bruce, time to call up the Hulk. Thor, you send some lightning up there. Clint, get up high and take down as many as you can. Loki, try to see if you can shut it down, and Tony?" Steve instructed.

"Yes, cap?"

"Do what you do best: wreck some shit."

Loki was trying, with no success, to shut the portal down. It was very strong and ancient magic. He had never experienced anything like it before. Occasionally, he would blast away any Chitauri soldiers that tried to ambush his teammates.

A strange feeling was bothering Loki. His eyes looked around, scanning the area for any sign of suspicious activity. Only when he realized what the feeling was; it was too late. Natasha was out, fighting with a Chitauri soldier, losing horribly. A blow to the head, a strike to the back, blood everywhere. His magic seemed to escape him at the moment. All the other Avengers were busy fighting to notice the redheaded spy.

A cry of pain shook Loki awake from his lost state. Natasha lay on the ground, helpless, defenseless, _bleeding_. The Chitauri soldier readied his spear gun for the final blow. Natasha closed her eyes, knowing what was going to come. She was the Black Widow, but even the strongest of spiders got crushed. Natasha waited, but the death strike never came. Loki stood only a distance away, eyes blazing with fury and scepter pointed at the now disintegrated Chitauri.

"Natasha." Loki ran to her side, cradling her in his arms, tears beginning to form at his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Loki." She coughed up blood. A rip in her uniform showed a bloody wound in her soldier, crimson red liquid dripping down her legs, staining the gravel.

"No. You'll be fine. My magic can heal you." He placed his hand over her wound, but a stinging pain made him pull back. It was the same unfamiliar magic used for the portal. Loki placed his hand over her stomach, feeling for a heartbeat, a faint kick, _anything_ to prove that their child was still alive, and not gone forever at the hands of a Chitauri soldier.

"I...love you, Loki." Breathing was getting harder and harder. Every part of her body was screaming in pain. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I love you too, Natasha." He trembled.

"I should…have stayed…in the mansion."

"It's not too late. I can fix it." Loki tried desperately, but his magic was failing him. He could not, _would not_, give up on her. There was enough red on his ledger. Natasha had to be saved. Without her, he would be lost, just an empty shell of a man.

"At least…I got to see you. One. Last. Time." Natasha placed a bloody hand on his cheek, but as she tried to take her final breath, it never came. Her limp body fell lifeless. Natasha Romanoff was no more.

Sobs shook Loki's body as he hugged his dead girlfriend. It wasn't supposed to end like this. If only he had used magic to barricade the mansion, she wouldn't have been able to escape. She would still be sitting, waiting for Loki, murmuring soft reassurances to her and their unborn baby.

"Natasha…I thought you would wait for me." Loki cried. He was a mess. A gut-wrenching feeling pained Loki. He had no one left. The only woman who ever truly loved him, gone, taken away from him forever.

It was his entire fault. He should have been more careful. But realization struck Loki. It was Thanos. If he hadn't been so obsessed with trying to rule all of the nine realms, a dream that Loki had given up on, then Natasha might have still been alive. She might have lived to see their baby. The baby with Loki's green eyes and Natasha's red hair.

Growling, he teleported Natasha back to the mansion, where he quickly relayed everything to the AI. Jarvis would know what to do, and Loki had other plans. Summoning all of his magic, right down to his inner core, he teleported into where Thanos and the Other resided.

"Ah, young Asgardian. I wondered when you would show up after the loss of your filthy mortal." The Other spoke.

"Don't talk about Natasha like that." He growled.

"What's wrong, little prince? You've gone soft, developing feelings for an earthling." Loki fought to keep his emotions under control. He had to do this perfectly.

"Where is the tesseract?" Thanos finally spoke.

"Oh, I'm not here to give it to you."

"Then you've thought wrong, Laufeyson."

Taking a deep breath, Loki thought of all the times Natasha smiled at him, laughed with him. Stared at him, with her bright blue eyes. The eyes that he would never see again. The laugh that he would never hear again.

"This is for Natasha." Loki said before springing into action. He used a poisoning spell that would cause the Other a slow and painful death, while unable to do anything about it. Loki had suffered, losing his beloved, so why shouldn't he?

"Why, you little traitor!" Thanos bellowed, raising the Infinity Gauntlet, preparing to dispose of Loki.

"No. I was never on your side." Loki said, before thrusting forward his scepter, laced with poison, towards the titan's heart. He thought of all the times Natasha made him smile, when she first announced her pregnancy. All that fueled Loki even more. Finally, the fallen titan lay a bloody mess on the crater, trembling weakly.

"You think you know pain? I will make you long for something as sweet as pain." Loki hissed, repeating almost the exact same words the Other told him. Slowly, he plucked the gauntlet off of the purple being's hand and wore it on his right. Finally, using his one happy memory of Natasha, he finished the two monsters off.

The weary Loki finally seemed to wind down, but he mustered enough strength to teleport back to the tower, but not before blowing up the mothership of Chitauri, to ensure they would stay dead this time.

Back at the tower, Natasha's lifeless body was in their bedroom. Dried flecks of blood dotted her head. Loki staggered in, peeling off the Infinity Gauntlet. He pressed his lips to Natasha's cold, dead ones one final time before also lying next to her. Loki closed his eyes, exhaustion finally taking over, letting the wear and tear of his body take over.

The darkness engulfed him, never to see the light of day again. But at least he got to see Natasha one last time.

/

The Chitauri fell and the civilians were safe again. But nothing was well in the Avengers Mansion. Jarvis replayed what had happened with Loki and Natasha. Thor wept for his lost brother. Clint cried for his lost best friend. And the rest of them were saddened greatly by the loss of their teammates.

Loki and Natasha finally reunited in the afterlife. They couldn't go back, so with Hela, the ruler of the underworld, they spent the rest of their days. Speaking no words, looking at each other was enough. Because it wasn't the last time. Not anymore.

_He remembers the feeling of his heart shattering in a million pieces when he saw the fallen spider. Her eyes had lost the fierce shine and had been replaced with true terror, something he hadn't seen ever since the cage._

_He remembers when he saw her fall. Blood was everywhere. She had accepted defeat, and he knew what was to come. Even if he didn't want to admit it._

_Their final kiss happened in the day. He was in his battle amour and she was in her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. He kissed her softly, even though she couldn't kiss back. They were inseparable in life and death._

* * *

**Author's Note: That kind of tore me up, but it was fun to write.**

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